The Wisdom of Seth Godin’s Crowd

I’ve never been a big one for crowds, but today I’m joining the ranks of those talking about Seth Godin’s latest endeavor, a free downloadable e-book called What Matters Now, a compilation of ideas and quotes from seventy “big thinkers” of our time.

The contributors range from Elizabeth Perkins (author of Eat, Pray, Love) and Oprah Magazine columnist Martha Beck to business innovators like 37signals founder Jason Fried and Guy Kawasaki, with a little Malcolm Gladwell and Daniel Pink thrown in for good measure. No matter where your interests lie, you’ll find more than a few nuggets of wisdom here to mull over and share.

If a book sounds too time-consuming, the good news is that the format is actually more like that of a slide deck, with one page devoted to each contributor and topic, making it easily consumable in small bites. I’ve posted a few of my favorites here, but the entire e-book is worth exploring on your own when you have (make) the time.

On:

GUMPTION: “These corners we paint ourselves into, it’s no way to live.” – Novelist J.C. Hutchins

PASSION: “You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you everyday, not by trying to find your passion.” – Derek Sivers, entrepreneur & programmer

CHANGE: “Stop agonizing about what’s not working. Instead, ask yourself, “What’s working well, right now, and how can I do more of it?”” – Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick

AUTONOMY: “Management isn’t natural.” – Daniel H. Pink, author

POWER: “Stop waiting around for bosses and companies to get better and complaining about how are you treated. Build the skills—and use them—that will permit you to create the environment in which you want to live.” – Jeffrey Pfeffer, author and professor at Stanford Business School

SOCIAL SKILLS: “I have really bad social skills, so I am constantly noticing how the whole world revolves around social skills.” – Penelope Trunk, founder of BrazenCareerist.com and author of blog.penelopetrunk.com

I’M SORRY: “There’s never really a great way to apologize, but there are plenty of terrible ways.” – 37signals founder Jason Fried

See more on Seth’s blog at: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/what-matters-now-get-the-free-ebook.html

Share this post:

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine